MSC Cruises - MSC Splendida

MSC Cruises - MSC Splendida Reviews

This might be one of the first cruise ship reviews on TB, but I thought why not post it here. Of course the location depends on the route you have booked and the room size on the budget you are willing to spend. But especially in low season it's a relaxing way of travelling and you stop every day in another beautiful place. Also the prices can be a really bargain if you find it over the internet or book via one of the more famous discount chains.

Some facts about the ship:

She entered service in March 2009, as a sister ship to MSC Fantasia. Nice modern cabins with flat screen, sofa, minibar etc. Most of them with own balcony. Decks 8-13.

Gross Tonnage 138,000

Length: 333.3 m (1,092.2 ft)

Beam: 37.9 m (124.6 ft)

Passengers (normal): 3,300

Passengers (maximum): 3,887

Crew: 1,325

Service speed: 21.0 knots

what else do I remember: couple of restaurants, several buffets on different decks, midnight snacks, 20 bars :-)

Meals are great. Didn't try the special restaurants or any day tour. These look rather for poeple who enjoy to be served and carried around whole day long.

Staff is friendly and speaks major foreign languages. I would not rate it as top service because these days on a cruise ship the tips are already included in the price - maybe one reason why you don't see superior service on such a large ship :-)

For day tours look about alternatives and hints via Internet before. For example the train from Cividaveccia into Rom and a 5 minute walk to St Peters placee is 45 minutes while the bus ride takes almost 1.5 hours and costs nerves because of traffice jams and is at least 5 times more expensive...

In places like Malte even a ship with this size "parks" right under the castle next to the walls. And because of its size you can see well into the city center over the walls. Once off the ship and through checkin/out which only takes 1 minute or so you walk within 5 minutes to major attractinos no need for a taxi or bus at all. Watch out my blog about Malta because I love their old busses and may post more pictures soon ...

I have seen a regular cabin with balcony and a normal bathromm and thought it's well sized. I don#t know about cabins without balcony or windows. The shower in my bathroom was huge. I was lucky to get a cabin including balcony with the size of a suite without paying more because it had wheel chair access to bathroom, balcon etc. without asking for it. It could be a possibility for you to ask for such an option if the ship is not fully booked :-)

We sailed from Genova, Italy, checkin was very speedy and we were on the ship in a matter of minutes,this is going to be a good vacation - so we thought !The interior of the ship is very nice indeed but although there seemed to be a lot of lifts, at times it could be very hard to get in one ! The facillities on this ship are exceptional especially if you have a young family. Meals were average to say the least and the waiters in the main resturant were poor in standard of service though they did speak good english. The guest relations staff are the worst and rudest I have ever met in many years of cruising. If you wanted a tea or coffee, that was extra and had to be paid for, even water in the resturants at meal times had to be paid for, so a bottle had to be bought even if you just wanted one glass !Dont try the speciality returants as those are very expensive.The ship takes on new passengers at every port so unless you have a table for 2 or are travelling in one group, it can be constant new faces at your table every night as most of the tables were for a large number of seats. The majority of passengers on our particular cruise were not english speaking although a french couple we met were extremely friendly but on the whole this is not a friendly ship, and the different nationalities were not encouraged to mix by the ships crew. The cabins were very comfortable and clean, the bathrooms were the best size I have seen on a cruise ship and ours had a tub as well as a shower. one tip in Barcelona do not buy tickets and use the ships courtesey bus, go out to the outside of the terminal and there is a local authority bus, which for one euro takes you the entire way into the city centre, unlike the courtesey bus which leaves you at the gates to the port.